Arado Ar 196: Books - History, Construction and Deployment

Arado Ar 196 - Germany's Multi-Purpose Seaplane

Tells the story of the Arado Ar 196, the famous and versatile World War II German seaplane.

Product details

Arado Ar 196 Units in Combat (Osprey)

Beating its biplane rivals in a 1936 Reich Air Ministry design competition, the Arado Ar 196 provided the Kriegsmarine with possibly the best shipborne reconnaissance seaplane of World War II. Replacing the Heinkel He 60 biplane as the standard catapult-launched floatplane embarked on the Kriegsmarine's capital ships, the Ar 196 flew an assortment of combat missions during World War II, including coastal patrol, submarine hunting, light bombing, general reconnaissance and convoy escort sorties.

The first vessel to take its Ar 196A-1s to sea was the pocket battleship Graf Spee, which embarked two in the autumn of 1939. The battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz could carry six Arados each, the battlecruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst four and smaller pocket battleships and cruisers two.

Shore-based aircraft were also operated from coastal ports on the Channel, Baltic, North Sea and Bay of Biscay coasts, as well as in the Balkans and Mediterranean.
In this title, supported by an excellent selection of photographs and full-colour illustrations, Peter de Jong explores the history of the Arado Ar 196, detailing their development and assessing the combat capabilities of one of the last fighting seaplanes.

Product details

Adler über See - Bordflugzeug und Küstenaufklärer Arado Ar 196

The Arado Ar 196 was the last naval combat aircraft built in Germany. Intended as a catapult-capable aircraft for use on warships, the sturdy low-wing aircraft also proved its worth as a coastal reconnaissance aircraft. Although the model was already technologically outdated at the start of World War II, over 500 examples were manufactured by 1944, some of which flew into the 1960s.

The German Navy began planning an aircraft in 1928 and decided in favour of the Heinkel He 60 biplane. The search for a more modern successor proved difficult; various designs were not satisfactory. In 1936, the aircraft was put out to tender again and the contract was finally awarded to the Arado company, whose Arado Ar 196 design was convincing.

Using mostly unpublished photographs, the reader follows the development of the machine from V-model to the series produced in series, and from there into use and loss.
A special chapter shows all known whereabouts and presents surviving machines. Numerous sketches and drawings provide valuable information for serious model makers.

Product details